©
JUNE 2016 941.349.0194 | ISLAND VISITOR PUBLISHING, LLC
www.THELANDINGSOFSARASOTA.com
TALE OF TWO SHOPPING CENTERS Benderson Development reveals Blank Spaces By Maggie Menderski Depot is gone, but Publix is still there — so why modified plans for Siesta Promenade |Office is so much of The Landings vacant? |First phase of construction could begin in fall 2016 on vacant lot at the NW corner of Stickney Point Road and U.S. 41 By Roger Drouin
Benderson Development has modified its plans for vacant land that was once a mobile home park at the northwest corner of U.S. 41 and Stickney Point Road. The development company is taking the first steps to gain county approval for the latest version of its plans for Siesta Promenade — a mixed-use center that would transform the busy intersection — and hopes to break ground by as early as fall, 2016 on the retail and hotel component of the project, Todd Mathes, director of development at Benderson told The Eagle. The project requires Planning Commission and County Commission approval before construction could begin on the 24-acre site, and Benderson last month was in the process of filing the newest plans with the county’s land development services. In large part to meet the concerns of nearby residents, Benderson Development recently modified its plans for the center, first presented in 2014. Under the new plans, the lifestyle center would include 140,000 square feet of retail space and a 150-room hotel. A residential component of 600
units would be comprised of luxury rental apartments and condominiums on approximately 12 acres of the site. Benderson has decreased the total proposed commercial development by more than 100,000 square feet, said Mathes, who is the project manager for the Siesta Promenade project. The initial plans for the lifestyle center had 250,000 square feet of retail space. “We’ve spent a lot of time on this,” Mathes told The Eagle. “We are very confident that it works, and we think it is the right compromise for the neighborhood.” Siesta Promenade would group relatively small retail buildings lined around the edges of the front half of the property. The largest retail space would be filled by an upscale grocery store, Mathes said. Some examples of a possible grocer include The Fresh Market or Sprouts Farmers Market. Shoppers would park in the middle and walk to restaurants, bars and shops. The back portion of the property would have the hotel, and the residential units in four different buildings, the most recent plans show. Continued on page 25
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: As we head into the summer months, The Eagle will continue to report news and include articles about your community. However, with the generous support of our loyal Landings advertisers, we are able to include news and articles from your neighbors on Siesta Key. We hope you enjoy the additional articles about people, places and events outside the The Landings’ gates. Once Season begins, we will resume bringing you more Landings specific content.
Many who live in The Landings residential community are troubled by the vacancies in the plaza that serves as something of a gateway to their neighborhood. When Bill Whitman moved to The Landings, a bustling shopping center was the first thing that greeted homeowners to his residential community. Now, it’s plagued with blank spaces. The retail shifts started about six years ago with tenant turnover at The Landings Shopping Center. Then steadily, the trickle of newcomers slowed and more storefronts went dark. Since the end of the Great Recession, commercial space has slowly recovered in Southwest Florida following — albeit more slowly— the resurgence of residential real estate. In that time, the region has seen the arrival of a new $315 million high-end mall and the arrival of dozens of new retail and restaurant players. But The Landings remains an odd laggard amid that growth, a prominent player on a high-traffic regional thoroughfare that just hasn’t
found its footing. More than a dozen of the roughly 30 retail spaces owned by Delawarebased Landings of Sarasota Florida LLC remain vacant, and that company’s portion of the shopping center is in the foreclosure process, according to documents filed in late December with the Sarasota County Clerk of the Court. The owner failed to make a payment in August on a 2005 loan from New York’s Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Inc., and the lender is suing the company for more than $17 million, according to the documents. Calls to Schostak Brothers & Co., a Michigan- based firm that manages the property, seeking comment for this story were not returned. The fumbling plaza has puzzled Whitman for years. Continued on page 22